Huntsville gazette., 1887-04-23

gun may be rapidly turned in either
direction by admitting air to either Of
the cylinders. An arm at the centes OF
one Of the itrnniions, through which
the, compressed air passes to the gum.
operates. an auxiliary valve. which in
turn moves the main valve, opening
the passage to an air-chamber behind
the projectile. From the instant of
opening the valve, the full pressure Of
the air in the resefs oirs is exerted upon
the proiectile untfl it reaches the muz-
Ezle, when The valves are automatically
closed. The eight reservoirs contain
enough air at one thousand pounds
pressure to discharge the gun
six times; but as they can be continue
ously resupplied with air by the COM
pressor, there need be no delay in
firing.
All the movements of the gun are
ErQntrolled from the platform at the
Breech. The cartridge launched forth
from the tube consists of two parts
a wooden tailpiece fifty -one inches long,
which guides the projectile in its
flight; and head. The forward por-
ton or head is a brass cylinder forty
inches long, having a conical cap
forty. inches long, In the tube are
placed one hundred pounds Of explosive
gelatine, through the center of which
extends core of dynamite; and in the
center of the dynamite, again, is an
exploder of illuminate of mercury,
from which rod leads to the point OF
the cap. As soon as the latter strikes
an object, the charge explodes. In
order that the charge may be exploded,
in case of failure OF. the above arrange
ment, dry battery, placed in little
recess in the tailpiece Of the cartridge,
is connected with. the illuminate ex-
ploder. The battery begins to work
upon being brought into contact with
water, and the gelatine is then cx-
ploded. sA1 e'+ t@i
For it is for naval warfare, in the
first place, that the pneumatic gun Of
Lieutenant Zalinski is intended. And
it must be admitted that, while the
United States are still without the much
needed ships. Notifications and heavy
guns, which would place the country
on level with other naval powers,
these pneumatic guns win form
very efficient defensive weapons.
Besides mounting them on points
along the coast liable to at
tack by hostile fleet, they are to
be employed in a more decisive way.
1t is admitted that the range of pneu-
matte guns is limited as comparedwith
powder guns. An enemy's fleet might
lie beyond the range of pneumatic guns,
and lombard American ports and cities
with impunity. But it is suggested,
and appears perfectly feasible, to mount
pneumatic guns onsfast sea-going tor
pedo-boats. With such boats, aggres-
sive action Of a very decided and de-
cisive character would be possible.
Boats have been designed two hundred
and ten feet long by twenty-six feet
beam, carrying from one to three Of
these guns, of scalibers of from ten and
half to twelve and half inches. The
speeds of torpedo-boats so armed are to
be from twenty to twenty-five miles an
hour. The shells are to be thrown at
least one mile, and to contain from two
hundred to five hundred pounds Of ex-
tplosive gelatine, the rapidity of firing
them being from one to two shells every
two minutes. au sitn
The effect, of such shells upon even
the strongest ironclads would be irrre-
sistible. If dropped upon the deck Of
an enemy's ironclad, they would GER
tainly crush 1T, for their action would
not be confined to simple local per-
foratlon, but the crushing in would en-
sue over a considerable breadth. Be-
sides the direct breaking action at the
point of impact, there. would be a very
great transmitted shock, which would
seek out and break up the ship at all
weak points in the vicinity. The decks
even Of the most heavily armored yes
sells have less than six inches of armor,
and they present by far the greater
portion Of the target fired at. More
over, the most heavily armored ships,
leaving out Of account their decks, have
but small proportion Of the entire
surface covered with heavy alnor.
Should the she'll strike the portions OF
the armoring too thick for perforation
the tremendous blow, as stated above,
would seek ont the. neighboring weak
points by the transmitted shock. II
might be assumed as almost certain
that the effect of exploding large
quantity Of dynamite or explosive gela-
tine upon the turret or the casemate OF
a ship would be such as to render the
crew inside incapable for further ac-
ton, even if the armor were not pene-
trated. Supposing, also. that the shell
should fail to hit the vessel, if it ex-
.ploded near enough, even il its explo-
sion were not sufficient to disrupt the
hull, it would certainly affect the mo-
tive power and the steering apparatus
and thus practically paralyze the ship.